Lav's Music Corner

Sufjan Stevens & Angelo De Augustine are a pair of signees to Sufjan's Asthmatic Kitty Records label. After releasing two decades of his highly acclaimed indie folk records on the label, Sufjan signed Angelo for the release of his 2nd album and to open for him on tour. Now the duo are collaborating for the most recent in a string of experimentations, side projects and collaborations that Sufjan Stevens has undertaken in recent years. Review By Lav: Like most fans of indie music I went through a pretty big Sufjan phase in my life. Somewhere between The Age Of Adz  and Carrie & Lowell  I took a deep dive into his catalog and fell in love with a number of his records. While I haven't quite been head over heels for a lot of what Sufjan has done in the years since Carrie , there is an understanding that a lot of the projects are one time experiments that see him pursuing his creative passions outside the world of indie folk, indietronica and folktronica and probably shouldn...

Wavves is the San Diego based surf rock and punk rock band, most associated with longtime frontman Nathan Williams. After a run of 6 records in less than 10 years Wavves took 4 years off before dropping a series of singles leading up to Hideaway . Review By Lav: While Wavves may not be a universally accepted critics choice for one of the most essential punk bands of the 2010's their snarky attitude and matter of fact songwriting continued to engage me throughout my teens years, all the way up to 2017's You're Welcome . The combination of their sunny songwriting and rough production understandably gives some people reservations about the band, but alongside the snarling youthfulness of Nathan's attitude towards his songwriting and performances the assembly shines. Even with that being said we are a few years removed from the last time the band released anything, and over a decade removed from my personal favorite, and what is generally considered their most defining proj...

Sleater-Kinney are a female fronted punk rock outfit from Washington with origins in the riot grrrl movement of the 1990's. The bands original run of records leading up to the mid 2000's is a universally acclaimed set of punk and indie rock releases and that acclaim continued when the band reformed in 2015 with their No Cities To Love  comeback album. They're 9th album was released in 2019 to very mixed reviews and is seen by many as one of their worst despite drawing attention for its St. Vincent production, and Path Of Wellness  is the first record to not feature longtime drummer Janet Weiss.  Review By Lav: I love Sleater-Kinney, from widely accepted classics like The Woods  and No Cities To Love  to underrated gems like Dig Me Out  and The Hot Rock  the girl's punk flare has always appealed to me. This is why it was so difficult to hear 2019's The Center Won't Hold  which did feature a few great songs but was largely the bands most muddled and...